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Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines, Inc. is an American ultra-low-cost carrier headquartered in Miramar, Florida. It is the 7th largest commercial airline in the US. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States and in the Caribbean, Mexico, Latin America, and South America. The airline operates bases at Atlantic City, Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, and Las Vegas. In recent years Spirit has been embattled by a number of class actionlawsuits and punitive actions by the US DOT, including allegations related to deceptive advertising practices, the airline's non-ticket passenger fee policies, data security, and handling of complaints by customers with disabilities. Controversies, Criticism & Lawsuits Spirit Airlines has been the target of a number of controversial class action lawsuits and punitive actions by the US Department of Transportation. Most of the claims against the company are for allegations of deceptive advertising practices, customer service, and the airline's policies for charging additional fees at the time of purchase. In 2009 the US DOT fined Spirit a record $375,000 for allegations of false advertising, adding additional fees to its fares, and mishandling of compensation of passengers for lost baggage and . In 2011, the US DOT fined Spirit $50,000 for alleged deceptive advertising practices. The complaint claims that the airline had been running an advertising campaign which promoted specific discounted fares on billboards, posters, and Twitter, but did not disclose full details regarding extra fees added onto the advertised rates. In August 2012, A federal racketeering class action lawsuit was filed against the airline for violations of the US "RICO Act" for its collection of up to $40 million in "Passenger Usage Fees". The suit claims customers were mislead to believe these fees were actually part of the required government taxes and fees, rather than one charged by the airline itself. Plaintiffs said the placement of these fees on the confirmation page of its ticket-purchasing web platform “was a coordinated effort to conceal the true nature of the fee by leading customers to believe that it was an official government tax or sanctioned fee". The case was eventually dismissed on a technicality. In January 2012, the US DOT fined Spirit $100,000 for mishandling of complaints related to its treatment of customers with disabilities. In November 2015, the airline settled a class action lawsuit filed against them for alleged violations of FACTA (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act). The suit was filed over claims that more than the allowed last 5 digits of the customers' credit card numbers were displayed on the company's receipts. The settlement was for $7.5 million, one of the largest payouts in FACTA history. In February 2017, A class action was filed against Spirit alleging the company used "Bait and Switch" pricing tactics. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the airline misleadingly represents that it is a “low-cost, low-fare airline” offering affordable travel when, according to plaintiffs, customers pay more than the advertised price because the airline charges additional fees that are not adequately disclosed. In February 2018, A class action was filed against the airline, again over allegations of deceptive advertising practices. Plaintiffs claim Spirit advertised discounted fare prices through 3rd party websites, but did not disclose a number of additional fees charged for "optional" services until after tickets were purchased. The claim alleges these fees “annihilated” any savings obtained by choosing Spirit Airlines over competing airlines. Public criticism has arisen over allegations of poor customer service and reliability. Spirit Airlines had the highest rate of cancelled flights during 2016 and 2017 among the 13 largest air carriers. The airline's complaint rate was over 4 times the industry average in 2015, 2016, and 2017. They have been previously rated "the most hated airline" by Fox News Travel, Business Insider, Wall Street, CBS Money Watch, and Fortune. One high-profile controversy emerged when former CEO Ben Beldanza inadvertently mass replied to a customer complaint email saying, "We owe him nothing as far as I'm concerned. Let him tell the world how bad we are. He's never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny." Fleet Current fleet As of March 2018, the Spirit Airlines fleet consists entirely of Airbus A320 family aircraft. Historical fleet The following aircraft formerly operated in the Spirit Airlines fleet: Accidents and Incidents On May 29, 2018, Spirit Airlines Flight 903, an Airbus A320-200, caught fire shortly after landing at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. After stopping on the tarmac, the engine started smoking and burning, and later exploded causing the aircraft to catch fire. The cause is under investigation.